Ali ibn Hatim

Who he is

Name

Ali ibn Hatim al-Yami al-Hamdani

Title

Sultan of the Banu Hatim (former sultan of Sana'a)

Since

1161

Born

Not pinned

Family

Brother: Bishr ibn Hatim, who carried his pledge to the imam in 593 (1197). Father: Hatim ibn Ahmad (sultan 1139-1161). Other kin not pinned.

Confidence

medium

English Wikipedia; Diyanet encyclopedia for Bishr.

Overlord

The imam al-Mansur Abd Allah (pledged 1197).

What it holds

• Kawkaban and Shibam (probable)
• Other Hamdan castles (not pinned)

How it was acquired

Hereditary; Kawkaban by siege after 1166.

Allies and rivals

Ally of the imam; enemy of al-Mu'izz.

How things stand that morning

In the field with the imam's party; holdings not pinned.

Wealth

Dues of the Shibam plain.

Military

Hamdan tribesmen; mountain castles.

Threats

• Ayyubid attack from Sana'a

Where the sources disagree

• Kawkaban as his seat in 1200 is an inference.

Evidence: See Hamdanids.

On the map: Probable holding only.

Primary sources for Hamdanids

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• History of Yemen, Umara al-Yamani (Umara ibn Ali al-Hakami) (1168 to 1174, at Cairo). The history of Yemen's dynasties to the eve of the Ayyubid conquest: the Ziyadids and Najahids of Zabid, the Sulayhids and their queen Arwa, the Zuray'ids of Aden, the Hamdanid sultans of San'a and the Mahdids of Zabid, with Umara's own career as a Yemeni envoy to Fatimid Cairo. Read online
• History of the Observant Traveller (A Traveller in Thirteenth-Century Arabia), Ibn al-Mujawir (Jamal al-Din Yusuf ibn Ya'qub) (about 1226 to 1232). A merchant-traveller's description of western and southern Arabia a generation after 1200: Mecca and the Hijaz ports, the Red Sea crossing, Zabid and the Tihama, Aden with its customs and tariffs, the Hadramawt coast, Dhofar and Oman, Socotra, and the opposite African shore at Zeila and the Dahlak islands. Read online